Hunting Wabbits
by secretxpleasures
Summary: When Draco and Hermione are sent on their first Auror mission, hunting down a giant bunny is the last thing they expected.


_Written for the Easter challenge on Ultimate Rivals - Ultimate Love Story (see my profile for link)._

_Requirements:_  
_DM/HG pairing_  
_Set around Easter_  
_Must use the phrase "Why in Merlin's name have you brought that?"_

_Rating: Strong M_

_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR, Scholastic and Warner Bros. I am not any of those people or corporations. Damn it._**  
**

**Hunting Wabbits**

"Why in Merlin's name have you brought that?"

"Isn't this what it eats?"

"Blimey, you are such a bloody muggle."

"Well, pray tell, what _does_ the Easter Bunny eat?" Draco Malfoy stared at her as though she had just sprouted several new heads. Hermione looked at the long, orange carrot in her hand. She looked back at Malfoy when she heard him snort.

"They fed you that line successfully, I take it?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kingsley. Probably Weasle and Potter, too, eh? Told you there really is such a thing as the Easter Bunny in the Wizarding World. Granger, you've still got a thing or two to learn about _our_ world apparently." Hermione didn't miss his emphasis on the word 'our,' as though she didn't belong in it. Malfoy may have stopped calling her a mudblood when they began working together, but that didn't mean he was any fonder of having her exist in his world.

"Well then, what on earth are we doing looking for a giant bunny that calls himself the Easter Bunny if there really is no such thing?"

"His name is Morton Price; he's an animagus… apparently turns into a giant bunny. Every year around Easter, he turns himself into the "Easter Bunny" and uses it as an excuse to break into muggle homes and steal valuables. Apparently the newest Aurors around this time every year get stuck with the wonderful task of attempting to find him and bring him in before he strikes." No one would have predicted Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger would become Aurors. Less would predict that they would train and be accepted at the same time, forcing them to become partners. This was the first task they had been sent on alone since passing their final Auror exams and finishing training. Hermione wanted desperately to succeed.

"So, why don't they just have him locked up? Isn't breaking and entering, and _stealing_ enough to put someone in Azkaban for awhile?"

"Sure, if any Aurors had ever caught him. Up until a few days ago, they were unable to get a name for the guy because no one had ever actually seen someone morph into a giant bunny. So, they didn't know who the giant bunny actually was."

"Oh, wonderful. So we're on mission impossible here, and it involves a fake bunny rabbit." Draco smirked at her.

"You can go home if you want. I'm sure I can take care of it without your carrot." Hermione threw the orange vegetable at him and huffed.

"You'll be happy to have me when you realize you're incapable of catching a bloody rabbit." Draco ignored her and pulled his Auror robes on over his clothing. He stuck his wand in an inside pocket of the robes, and grabbed a folder from his desk.

"Here, look over the details as we walk. There are two muggle neighborhoods he's been known to frequent, and I'd like to check them out." He handed her the folder and left their shared office. Hermione began to follow, while flipping the folder open. The first thing she noticed was a head shot of an older man with severe acne. It would figure that a man named Morton who morphed into a giant bunny every Easter would essentially be a social outcast with an atrocious skin problem. Hermione read through a few brief details about the neighborhoods he most commonly hit, and scanned a few blurry photographs of him as a giant bunny rabbit sneaking down a dark alleyway.

With her nose buried in the folder, she hadn't noticed Draco stop and turn to face her. She looked up just as she walked headlong into him, dropping the folder, and grabbing his hips with both hands to steady herself from falling. She noticed, with annoyance, how firm his body felt beneath her hands, and also noticed an unwanted tingle spread through her body as his hands grabbed her upper arms. They stood like this briefly before breaking apart, Hermione clearing her throat and bending to retrieve the fallen folder.

"You should watch where you're going sometimes, Granger," Draco said with an obvious sneer in his voice.

"Maybe you shouldn't stop suddenly in front of someone who isn't looking, Malfoy," Hermione said, trying her best to mimic the disdain she'd heard in his voice. She chose to ignore the rush she'd felt when he touched her. It was likely just embarrassment for running into him in the first place.

Draco shook his head and apparated. Hermione looked around, and then looked down at the folder. The first neighborhood listed in Price's information was only a few towns away. Hermione closed her eyes and focused on the picture of the neighborhood she had seen in the folder. She felt that familiar squeeze and then found herself standing on a dark street. The sun had gone down only moments earlier. Suddenly she felt a strong hand grasp her upper arm and spin her around before she could scream. Draco held a finger to her lips.

"We're in a muggle neighborhood, Granger, what are you doing apparating in the middle of the bloody street?"

"I've never been here! I had to go by looking at the picture in the folder because you up and left without telling me where I was going!"

"Bitch about it, why don't you?"

"What are we going to do? Just sit here and hope he hits this neighborhood and not the other one?"

"I thought we'd walk around both first. See which one is more heavily alarmed."

"But aren't there magical spells that could easily get him around muggle alarm systems?"

"Yes, but apparently Price isn't exactly an intelligent wizard. If it weren't for the fact that becoming an animagus came naturally to him, he'd likely be considered a squib. He won't know any other significant magic. Didn't you read the details in the bloody folder?"

Hermione chose to ignore Draco so as to keep her composure. He was really wearing on her nerves quickly. And to think she would have to spend, at the very least, the next five years as his partner at the Ministry before she could request a switch.

They were walking down the sidewalk in front of cute, modern houses. Hermione noticed that nearly every yard had a sign declaring which brand of alarm system they had installed. Apparently Morton Price had struck here more than once.

"This is a bust," Hermione said. "There's no way he is going to come here tonight; every house is alarmed." Draco sighed.

"You're probably right. Let's check out the other neighborhood. If it's not too alarmed, I'm positive he'll hit it. I don't think he likes to go too far, seeing as he obviously can't apparate." Hermione nodded her head. "Grab my hand; I'll side-along apparate you." Hermione did as he asked. She felt the squeeze again, and then felt herself land in a pile of prickly bushes. Malfoy was almost laughing.

"You did that on purpose!" She hissed, pulling herself out as quickly as possible.

"Do you want to walk to different ends of the neighborhood, or stick to the middle together?" He asked, ignoring her accusation.

"We should stick to the middle, seeing as you'll never be able to grab this guy on your own."

"Okay, Granger. If you want to believe that you're a better Auror than I am, go ahead. I'll prove you wrong soon enough." Hermione looked at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked down the sidewalk. He almost looked as if he were smiling. _Almost_. She stopped when he held out his hand.

"This is about halfway through the town. It's small, so we can pretty much see all the houses he might hit. I haven't seen any with alarms yet."

"You're right. We might as well stake out behind these bushes. There's no house on this lot, so we shouldn't be seen."

"Stake out, Granger? Seen too many muggle movies lately?"

"Not recently; have you?" Draco snorted at her, and pulled her behind the bushes. They both sat down and peered through the branches. They could see several of the houses in the neighborhood from their vantage point. Lights were going out occasionally as the night wore on.

"How lucky we are to have gotten paired together," Hermione said after a few moments of silence. "I couldn't have asked for a better partner."

"The sarcasm is unappreciated, bookworm."

"Bookworm? Please, you haven't called me that since Hogwarts."

"Doesn't mean you don't still have an unhealthy relationship with texts. I could call you worse."

"Obviously." They remained silent after that. As the neighborhood died down for the night, they listened closely to hear the sounds of an intruder. Nothing yet. Hermione watched Draco and marveled at how still he sat, like stone. She, on the other hand, had to constantly keep moving her legs around so that they would not get that horrible "pins and needles" feeling that irked her so much.

"Are you celebrating Easter?" She asked him suddenly, after what felt like hours of silence.

"Celebrating with whom, Granger? I no longer have a family." He said this without any trace of seeking pity. He stated it as mere fact. Hermione felt sorry for asking.

"But you know you're better off where you are now." He remained silent. "Anyway, I rarely see my family anymore, even on the holidays. I'll likely just apparate to the Weasleys. It's so much easier, and quicker. It's a bit sad not to see my mum and dad, though."

"Are you still talking?" Draco asked.

"You really are a prat."

"And you're a dirty mudblood." Hermione felt taken aback by the unfamiliar word coming from his mouth.

"You're really at your best tonight, aren't you, Malfoy?" She said crisply.

"Because you're attractive tonight." She sucked in her breath and turned to look at him. He continued to stare through the bushes as though nothing out of the ordinary had been said.

"Excuse me?"

"You're attractive… for a muggle-born."

"Oh, so muggle-born witches aren't allowed to be attractive?"

"No, I'm not allowed to be attracted to them," Draco said, turning his face towards hers. Hermione did not exhale.

"Those are two different things, Draco. Am I attractive or are you attracted to me?"

"Does it matter?" Hermione could not discern the look in his eyes, although she feared it was pure lust. Feared or hoped? She had no idea where this attitude of Draco's had come from, but when he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, she wasn't sure she cared.

She froze momentarily, but at his insistence, warmed to his lips and then parted hers to let his tongue roam inside. As he began to kiss her with an unexpected passion, Hermione brought her hands up to tangle in his silky, pale hair. Slowly he lowered her to the soft grass below.

"What are you doing?" Hermione mumbled against his lips, not removing her hands from his hair.

"Shut up," he replied, while running one of his hands down her side to her hip. He slowly slid a few fingers beneath the waist band, teasing the sensitive skin at the top of her leg. Hermione moaned into his kiss, and forgot any other questions she'd had. Her hands flew to the top of his robes and she began to tug them down his arms. When he sat up to pull his own robe off, Hermione did the same. When she had removed it, she moved her hands to the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. He leaned back down and captured her lips again.

Draco's hands wandered to the bottom of her shirt. He reached down and unbuttoned her jeans. He pulled the zipper down slowly, the knuckles of his fingers brushing the outside of her panties on the way down. He felt Hermione arch into him. Draco heard himself growl, something he never could control when he was "in the moment." The reaction she caused in him only made him move faster. He began to pull at Hermione's jeans, indicating she should take them off immediately. She acquiesced, raising her hips and letting him pull the jeans down her legs; hetossed them in the yard beside her. Suddenly Hermione reached her hand beneath his waist band; when she discovered he had gone without boxers, she wrapped her hand around his very hard, throbbing manhood, eliciting another growl from him.

Draco allowed her to continue her ministrations for a few moments before pulling away and hissing at her, "don't finish me yet." Hermione felt a thrill run through her body at his words. In the next moment she felt Draco rip her panties at the seams.

"Great. Because I didn't want to wear these later," she said, trying desperately to fill her voice with anger instead of lust. Her efforts were thwarted, however; when Draco inserted two long digits inside her.

"You were saying?" He whispered. Hermione ignored him and focused on what he was doing to her with just those two fingers. As his speed increased, she felt a familiar twirl in her stomach.

"I need you," she said suddenly, realizing at that moment just how much she did. She thought she heard him snigger, but ignored it when she saw that he was pulling his jeans down his legs. She admired his taut abs, and watched as the moonlight danced on his pale, white skin. Draco finished pulling the jeans off and positioned himself between her legs. He looked into her eyes, and she stared back unblinking, encouraging him to continue.

Draco eased himself inside Hermione, and both immediately moaned at the feeling of the connection. Hermione began to think she had never been so satisfied in her life. Draco was sure he'd never felt any other woman quite like her. The clichéd and corny thoughts disappeared as he began to move inside her and she matched his every move. The only thoughts either could form was just how good each and every thrust felt.

After awhile, Hermione again felt the familiar tingle in her stomach. She raked her nails down Draco's back as the orgasm hit her. Draco let himself go when he felt the walls inside her tighten. Both of them were seeing tiny black dots in the corners of their eyes.

After a few seconds, Draco rolled off of Hermione and lay down on his back beside her in the cool grass. They panted heavily, but said nothing for minutes. Before either of them could speak, Draco heard a crackling from an object in his jeans pocket. He sat up and pulled the muggle object out. Hermione had explained to him recently that this object was referred to as a "walkie-talkie." The Ministry had decided to implement their use for missions where an owl could not be delivered quickly enough.

"Where are you two?" Draco and Hermione heard Kingley's voice crackle through the receiver. "A call just came in. One of the houses in Price's second neighborhood just got hit. How'd you miss him?" Draco looked at Hermione from the corner of his eye. She looked worried.

"Bollocks, we must be too far down the road. Didn't see him anywhere," Malfoy responded. They heard Kingsley grunt into the walkie-talkie, and then the crackling disappeared. He'd shut off his end. Hermione laughed, and Draco looked at her in surprise.

"I wonder if this is how all of the other Aurors missed Morton Price when they were supposed to be looking out for him." Draco looked at her for a moment, and then cracked his trademark smirk.

"For Merlin's sake, I hope not. Last year it was Harry and Ron."


End file.
